Community service

On Tuesday, fire fighters visited the Joyce Samuel Primary School as part of activities for Fire Safety Awareness Week. The students seemed very interested — especially when those who answered questions correctly received gifts. But a Beaconite was particularly impressed by the fire officers’ actions after the session. After spending nearly two hours with the students, they walked around the school campus with garbage bags, collecting trash from the area. JSPS wasn’t the only place they cleaned, said fire officer Winston Farrington: They also volunteered on Monday at the Jost Van Dyke Primary School and yesterday on Virgin Gorda.

Missing speech

In 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016, the territory’s governor delivered a Speech from the Throne, updating the public on the government’s legislative agenda. Careful readers will notice that this leaves 2015 as the only year in the last nine without a Throne speech and public update, which made a Beaconite curious. Two Mondays ago, he reached out to the Office of the Premier, and inquired about the reason for the omission. He waited a week before getting a response from an information officer, who said she had dug around and found out that the speech “wasn’t required.” The Beaconite said he understood that it wasn’t required and he was more curious as to why the government had decided to skip a speech. “Oh, I’ll have to get back you on that,” was the information officer’s response. The Beaconite is still waiting, but if he gets the information he will certainly pass it along to readers.

21st Century problems

A Beaconite came into his office early Monday morning ready to work on his stories for this week, only to find that the Beacon’s server was malfunctioning. With the server down, he was unable to comb through electronic archives to conduct research for his stories. Frustrated, he was ready to call it quits and forego the business section this week. Then he remembered that a few years ago, the Beacon didn’t have the luxury of searchable electronic archives. Back then, Beaconites had to manually search through back issues for their research. The Beaconite now feels sheepish that he panicked over not having electronic archives for just a few hours (the server was fixed that afternoon) when that used to be the norm for reporters throughout the world. Nevertheless, he’s thankful to have access to electronic archives again.

Clowning around

A Beaconite was very disturbed to learn that clowns have been terrorising multiple neighbourhoods in the United States. From Oregon to South Carolina, clowns reportedly have been spotted holding butcher knives, attempting to lure children into the woods, or knocking on people’s windows late at night. Police have yet to capture any of the culprits, so little is known about their identity. Even more concerning: At least one clown appears to be running for president. The Beaconite hopes that the clowns stay away from this territory.

Bushes trimmed

A Beaconite is pleased that someone recently trimmed the vegetation along Waterfront Drive in Road Town. Before the bushes were trimmed, there was a particularly dangerous hazard: Drivers pulling onto Waterfront at the intersection next to the Cutlass Tower didn’t have a clear view of oncoming vehicles. Smaller vehicles were particularly hard to see, as a Beaconite learned one day when he almost pulled out in front of a scooter. Now the view is clear, and the Beaconite hopes it will stay that way.

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